


Six of Serpents

by CrownsAndMilkshakes



Category: Archie Comics & Related Fandoms, Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Angst, Drabble, F/M, Six of Crows AU, i guess, more like jughead is broody and doesn't say what he thinks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-06
Updated: 2021-03-06
Packaged: 2021-03-12 02:23:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,143
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29877672
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrownsAndMilkshakes/pseuds/CrownsAndMilkshakes
Summary: Jughead is brooding in the dark.Betty cleans his wounds.Words are left unsaid.
Relationships: Betty Cooper/Jughead Jones
Comments: 6
Kudos: 33





	Six of Serpents

**Author's Note:**

  * For [moons2stars](https://archiveofourown.org/users/moons2stars/gifts).



> This is a gift for the wonderful moons2stars. I unfortunately never got you your Bughead secret santa gift, so hopefully this makes up for it. I'm so happy you started reading the Six of Crows duology and that we can fangirl over them together. So I decided to combine two of our favourite things together: Bughead in a Six of Crows AU.
> 
> As always; my forever gratitude and all the chocolate (pear flavoured) for my beta reader dsvridiculousfangirl

It was dark in Jughead’s office above the Whyte Wyrm. He hadn’t bothered to light a candle. He had to think and thinking was best done in the dark. The muffled sounds of the tavern below infiltrated his office, sounds of singing and fighting. People who had no idea what a mess the world was or tried to drink the reality away.

He sighed and scrubbed his face before taking his crown from his head and laying it before him on the desk. Was he supposed to be a king? Reggie had gotten himself kidnapped. Hiram was threatening to take his tavern away. And his anchor was on the other side of town.

He had to think. He had to scheme. How was he going to get out of this mess? But his mind stayed blank and for a long time he just stared at the wall in front of him. 

He felt rather than heard her enter the room. Not through the door like a normal person, but through the window. He would never admit it, but that was why he always kept the window open. Now, she was sitting behind him. His own spider. The wraith of Riverdale. The person who could become one with darkness: Betty Cooper.

“Why are you here?” he asked.

“Veronica told me to come home.”

“You are supposed to be on a mission.”

“Already completed.” Out of seemingly nowhere, a bag of money and a letter appeared on his desk. Then she was on the other side of the room, lighting a candle. “Why are you brooding in the dark while your spy is out on an important mission.”

“I had to figure out our next step.”

Betty looked at him, assessed him thoroughly. Other people always squirm under her intense stare, but Jughead returned it. “And did you?”

A growl is the only answer she got.

Her lip twitched at the corner as if she wanted to laugh at his pathetic state, but thinks better of it. Instead, she walked towards him slowly. A prowl of a predator cornering her prey. She stopped a few inches away from him and he was forced to look up at her, a position he would abhor with any other person. Her fingertips grazed the bloodied bandage on his hand.

“How did you get this?”

“Got jumped in the alley.”

She clicked her tongue in disappointment. He wasn’t sure if it was directed at him. Then, she was walking away again. “Come on,” she said over her shoulder. And he followed. He always followed.

They entered the bathroom connected to the office and Betty immediately started rifling through the cabinet. “Take off your jacket.”

“So many commands, Cooper,” Jughead murmured, but still did as he was told. He tried not to wince as he shrugged off the heavy leather and then his shirt afterwards. It was sticking to him with sweat and blood, not all of it his own.

Betty’s eyes widened for a second when she saw him. “Jesus Jug! How did you let that happen?” She was talking about all the blood dripping down his arm.

“Is it my fault that I got attacked by four guys. I didn’t see them coming.”

Her lips thinned in a line at that confession and she gestured for him to sit on the edge of the bath. She approached with new bandages and some scissors. “Who were they?”

“Hiram’s cronies. He wanted to talk with me.”

He was so busy with his anger towards Hiram and his frustrations with himself for letting it happen in the first place that he didn’t realise how close Betty was until he felt the cool metal of the scissors on his skin. It was as if someone punched him in the stomach again, because the breath was knocked out of him. Delicately, she removed the bandages from his arm. Neither saying a word. Neither seemed to breathe.

Jughead remembered the first time they met in Penelope’s brothel. Her sneaking up at him, offering him her services. Not the kind you would expect in that kind of place. The second time, in his office, telling her he had bought her contract from Penelope. She now worked for him. Her eyes had burned bright green with both relief and anger. That was the first time he felt something light up inside him when he looked at her.

He was there for her first heist, her first murder. He was the one who gave her the precious dagger that was now strapped to her thigh and told her to use it well. They had celebrated their biggest wins and mourned their pathetic defeats together. They survived this wretched town together. And yet, they had never been as close as they were now.

Betty’s face was inches away from his. She was focusing on his wounds, gently cleaning them. Jughead took this opportunity to study her closely. Her brow was furrowed in concentration and she was biting on her bottom lip. He noticed the golden flecks in her eyes and the tiny freckles on her nose. 

What would she do if he leaned forward and kissed one of those freckles? If he reached out and caressed her lower lip with his thumb? 

If they were two different people, in a different town, maybe he could have done it. But he was a Serpent; venomous and deadly. She deserved better.

He tried to turn his thoughts away from her. To things like money and revenge, his usual interests. But his body was attuned to her every movement. His arm didn’t hurt and instead he got goosebumps where her fingers brushed his skin and he wanted to lean into that touch. He could feel her breath on his ear as she bandaged his shoulder and he was sure he turned a little red.

“What’s going on, Juggie?” She finished tying up the new bandages, but she didn’t take a step back like she normally would have. Always putting up a wall between them. Instead, she laid her hand on the nape of his neck, her fingers playing with his hair. Every alarm bell went off in his head. He was torn between pulling her close and pushing her away. “How could you let this happen? What is going on that you are this way?”

You, he thought, you are what is going on. You have been gone these past two weeks and I couldn’t think, couldn’t keep my wits about me. I need you with me at all times.

Betty looked at him as she waited for an answer. The words were on the tip of his tongue, but he couldn’t say them. 

She sighed and slowly distanced herself from him. “Good night, Jughead.” She took the candle with her on her way out, leaving him alone in the darkness.


End file.
